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For What It's Worth

Friday, April 20, 2012

AAD Author Spotlight with Cynthia Eden & ARC Giveaway!

Please join me in welcoming one of my favorite authors to the blog today! Cynthia Eden writes steamy paranormal romance with sexy shifters, vampires, demons and fallen angels as well as romantic suspense stories. I had a chance to meet Cynthia at a book singing and she is just THE nicest person. PLUS she brings chocolate to her signings!

**Winner of the ARC of Angel Betrayed is CYP @ Bookalicious Story!

Take it away Cynthia……

Hi, everyone!! I’m so excited to be chatting with you about New Orleans today (a big thanks to Karen for inviting me over).

The first time I visited New Orleans, I was nine years old. And, yes, at age nine, I became addicted to the city. ;)

There’s just a special feeling in New Orleans, an energy that seems to throb in the air. The jazz music drifts on the breeze, the scent of beignets teases your nose, and, if you look closely enough, you just might find a few ghosts looking back at you. Ah, New Orleans! Love!

So I wanted to share a few of my “Must-Do” spots in New Orleans with you.

First up…okay, this is obvious, but you should NEVER visit New Orleans without getting beignets. Go to Café du Monde, sit yourself down, get a cheap plate of beignets, and let that powdered sugar cover you. Trust me, you won’t regret the indulgence.

Next…Jackson Square. (The Square is right in front of St. Louis Cathedral, another must-see stop for me). I love the Square because on its exterior, you will find dozens of street artists, performers, and fortune tellers. For $15, you can get tarot cards read, you can have a psychic gaze into your future, and you can find out just what good things might be waiting for you. Then you can stroll over to the Cathedral and see the beauty inside or you can take a stroll down Pirate’s Alley and imagine what life was like 100 years ago…

Ready for a scare? On the next stop, be sure that you don’t travel alone. Actually, I’ll just go ahead and say, for safety’s sake, I don’t think anyone should ever visit one of the cemeteries in New Orleans without companions. So—go with buddies and have a group scare. I’d start with the St. Louis Cemetery (this is where you can find Marie Laveau’s tomb—ahem—is she actually in there? Not according to locals, but that’s a story for another time). Travel inside the cemetery and you’re bound to get some good inspiration. Well, I do, anyway.

I used all of these New Orleans scenes in my Fallen books for Kensington Brava. I was so excited to have the chance to write about the city that I love so much! And, hey, how about a giveaway? I’ll give one commenter an ARC of my July 2012 release, ANGEL BETRAYED (featuring all of these New Orleans scenes). To win, just tell me why you’d like to visit New Orleans.

*Answer Cynthia’s question with your email or twitter handle in the comment section by Sunday April 22 11:59pm EST. I’ll pick a winner Monday April 23rd. Open internationally.

Thanks for checking out my post!
Best,
Cynthia Edenwww.cynthiaeden.com
ANGEL BETRAYED—06/26/12
When you betray an angel, there’s hell to pay…

Description - Angel Betrayed: Sammael–call him Sam–was an angel once. An Angel of Death. But the dispassionate, watch-from-above thing just wasn’t working for him when it meant watching evil torture innocent souls day in and day out. It might have cost him his wings, but these days he gets to apply the direct method on the bad guys. Problem is, what’s making his life difficult is a bad girl…

Seline O’Shaw needs protection, and with the hounds of hell on her tail, she’s not going to quibble too hard about where she gets it. Sam’s virtue is questionable, but he’s smoking hot, massively powerful, and owes her a favor. So what if she’s getting a little case of angel lust? There are some damn deadly sins after her hide…

Karen: Thank you Cynthia. AAD will be my first time visiting NOLA and I can’t wait to check out all the places you mentioned, especially Café do Monde for beignets. I can’t believe I’ve never had one.

58 comments:

Thanks so much for having me over today, Karen! And, jeez, my apologies for my huge typo--that should be Cafe du Monde (don't even ask me what I was thinking when I typed it the first time...). But, typo or no, that place is awesome! Every time I eat a beignet there, I get covered in delicious powdered sugar. Yum.

I'd mainly want to visit New Orleans for their food (beignets, etouffe, bananas foster, cafe au lait) and plantations. But seeing the cemetery, Jackson Square, Bourbon Street, and the French Quarter are on my to-do list too. Hopefully I'll have enough time to squeeze all that in during AAD in NOLA!

I hope you have enough time, Eva! One thing about New Orleans, I've always found it is so easy to travel around the city. You can hop on a trolley and go just about anywhere. ;) I also really enjoy taking tours in the carriages (they're always parked right outside of Jackson Square). For about $10 dollars, you get a nice carriage tour past lots of cool places.

I have never been and AAD gave me a good excuse to go! I have always loved the draw that NoLa has with the paranormal. I am dying(not literally) to go to the cemeteries. I heard they are amazingly beautiful. I am also excited to go to Bourbon St and to the voodoo museum.

Those cemeteries are gorgeous! I hope you take lots of pictures. And there are several very cool voodoo places there. Every time I go into a voodoo shop, I get distracted. (A voodoo shop was actually the inspiration for my story, Immortal Danger.) See--distracting!

I have never been to New Orleans but I have always wanted to go. I would love to see all the historical areas and try all the local food. I think it would be a wonderful vacation for the Hubby and myself!

I would visit New Orleans to have a new cultural experience. Being from New England I would love to learn about the people & cultures that helped shape the New Orleans. I have never been outside of NE except for my home country of Puerto Rico and my husband's home country of Argentina. I would also love to experience their food, music, festivals, architecture and of course do some shopping. Go to all the tourist attractions and even find some not so well known local areas.

I live approximately 2 hours away from NOLA, so I've been going there my whole life. I completely agree with with Cynthia's must do list in the Crescent City, or The city that never sleeps. While I've ventured in the city countless times, I've never gotten my palm read- shocking for me. Sooooo, when I come up for AAD, that's on my to do list. Karen- you in? Oh, and PS- everyone should walk down Bourbon Street once in their lifetime... but not by themselves ;)Thanks!kcallegan(at)wilcoindustrial(dot)com

I would love to visit New Orleans, It is one of the places on my bucket list, I live in the U.K. and when our children are all grown up, We will be travelling to the states to experience all the places I have read about, so I expect to be there quite a while, I have wanted to visit New Orleans since I first read about it in Angel of Darkness, I have since read some Sherrilyn Kenyon and she uses New Orleans too, all the magic of New Orleans is something I really want to experience, Thankyou for a wonderful giveaway x x

Yes! I love NOLA! I love Jackson Square and beignets! I can't wait to be there again. Almost time. You are right. This list is a MUST do! At this point, I don't think there is a thing I haven't done in NOLA that I want to do expect attend AAD! LOL

Because New Orleans is the home of SO MANY paranormal novels and I really want to see it for myself! :D Haha, and I've never been to US before, so I really, really want to see it all with me own eyes. :)

I so agree! The people are amazing. I visited the city a few months after the hurricane, and it just broke my heart. At the time, I wondered if New Orleans would ever be the same again. But the people there are so strong--they brought their city back, and it's really incredible to me.

Whoa, visit New Orleans? Don't know if it's a place I'd visit but after rrading your last book I might just added to my place to go list. If you'll read all the comments I'd like to say your writing is awesome and one of my three favorites authors. You inspire me to write at times and I always wonder what you think when writing male characters because is impossible to love them. If I get to go to New Orleans I hope to get myself a Sam to go with me... ;-)

Whoa, visit New Orleans? Don't know if it's a place I'd visit but after rrading your last book I might just added to my place to go list. If you'll read all the comments I'd like to say your writing is awesome and one of my three favorites authors. You inspire me to write at times and I always wonder what you think when writing male characters because is impossible to love them. If I get to go to New Orleans I hope to get myself a Sam to go with me... ;-)

Whoa, visit New Orleans? Don't know if it's a place I'd visit but after rrading your last book I might just added to my place to go list. If you'll read all the comments I'd like to say your writing is awesome and one of my three favorites authors. You inspire me to write at times and I always wonder what you think when writing male characters because is impossible to love them. If I get to go to New Orleans I hope to get myself a Sam to go with me... ;-)

Many of my favorite books/series takes place in New Orleans. The scents, the sights, and the history makes it a "must see" place. LOL. One of these days. To convince my hubby I just have to mention sea food and stuff.

i've heard and read a lot of good things about New Orleans so if i went to USa one day, yes i would want to go there ( Suzanne Johnson has shown pictures of great place it would be great to do a "royal street" tour for example )

I've never been to New Orleans. I love to go to see all the sites,Bourbon St,French quarter..all the places mentioned in my books I read.I have a friend from LA and she always sent me the food.I would love to meet her there and have her show me around all the sites.elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

I'd love to visit New Orleans for the awesome food, the great entertainment, and the people watching. I think it's a fantastic place to see lots of interesting characters, as well as a lot of historical sites. Hope you have a great time in New Orleans Cynthia, wish I could be there for AAD.

I love Nawlins. I visit as often as I can because I have family there. It will be fun to actually act like a tourist when I am there for AAD (so excited) I love the people of New Orleans, the accent, the "laid backness", the way they call everyone "baybe". As far as food goes: gumbo and red beans and rice are a must!!

Because I've never been there and have heard so much about New Orleans; because Stella Cameron has book stories based there and her books are wonderful; because it has I hope a French tone and I'm half French. Do I need any more reasons than those?

I don't actually know that much about New Orleans, and the main reason I'd want to visit is the culture, but mostly I'd like to go to America because I live on the other side of the world. So in my trip I'd want to see as many cities as possible, and New Orleans seems cool, plus I've read a few books there and that always makes me want to visit somewhere. Thanks!

I can't wait to visit New Orleans this summer to experience the history and hang with a bunch of other avid readers and meet all the great authors. NOLA is a place that has always drawn my interest due to the legends, lore and stories that come out of the city. I am planning to stay for a few days after the AAD convention to do the site seeing as I didn't think I'd have much time during the actual convention. I want to do a bayou boat tour, ever since I read about them in Ms. Feehan's Dark Series. ~ cheesy sure, but I can't wait to check out the cemeteries as well. I am hoping that I can do a few grave rubbings while there not to mention lots of pictures. Great interview and thanks for the advice I will be sure to add those to my list of things to check out. @CarollineGreene

I'd love to visit New Orleans just for the Mardi Gras. I've never been and I think everyone should go at least once in their lifetime. New Orleans is just filled with History. There's the music and the unbelievable food they have.I'd LOVE to read Angel Betrayed. Thanks for the opportunity.Carol LLucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com